It gave a somewhat passive-aggressive response to your pedantic peeve, Harry. See below. The line about editors almost made me laugh.
In standard English usage, *“data” can be either plural or singular*, depending on the style guide and context. - *Plural (traditional, academic/scientific, Latin-derived):* “The data *are* incompatible.” - *Singular (common in general and business English, treating “data” as a mass noun like “information”):* “The data *is* incompatible.” Both are defensible. If you want to be maximally traditional/formal in scientific prose, use *“are.”* If you want modern general usage, *“is”* is fine. A small nuance: in your specific sentence, many editors would also prefer *“the data are incompatible with the constraints”* or *“the given values are incompatible”* to avoid any debate. On Sun, 25 Jan 2026 at 15:03, Harry Powell < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi > > “...However, that data are incompatible…” > > For pedants like me, it should be “…those data are incompatible…", and for > people who consider “data" to be singular it should be “…that data is > incompatible…”. Talk about mangling things… > > Harry > > On 25 Jan 2026, at 19:28, Eugene Valkov < > [email protected]> wrote: > > Just pasted your problem into ChatGPT 5.2, Thinking mode. This is the > answer it gave: > > <Screenshot 2026-01-25 at 2.25.45 PM.png> > > > > On Sun, 25 Jan 2026 at 11:16, Ian Tickle < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Try this one: A right-angled triangle has base length 10 and height 6 >> measured from the hypotenuse to the opposite apex (the base is the >> hypotenuse). What's the area of the triangle? >> >> ChatGPT says: >> >> For any triangle (right-angled or not), the area is: >> >> Area = 1/2 base × height >> >> So the answer is 10 × 6 / 2 = 30. >> >> Wrong! It's a nasty catch. It goes awry at the very first statement: the >> expression given is true for some triangles but not all, and in particular >> not this one. In fact it's not even a triangle so the area is undefined: >> that's the correct answer. It's impossible for the height to be more than >> 5 (draw the circumscribing circle). It fell into the trap of unthinking >> application of a standard formula fetched from the web without determining >> first whether it applies to the situation (and I imagine most humans will >> say 30 too without thinking!). >> >> This was a question in a job interview at Google. >> >> -- Ian >> >> >> On Sun, 25 Jan 2026, 15:31 Goldman, Adrian, < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> I think it really depends on use case. It’s extremely good at removing >>> english language mistakes, for instance. But at heart it’s a statistical >>> model, right? What word is likely to follow ‘what’ in a sentence about >>> ChatGPT, for instance. Like my last. The likelihood of painterly is very >>> close to zero, but is, word, token have all got high probabilities. So for >>> things it should be good at - it really is good. >>> >>> That doesn’t include facts: the intersection of words with the world. >>> >>> chatgpt5 does facts slightly better than chatgpt2. I remember asking it >>> for sonnets and 2 hadn’t got a concept of sonnet - but 3+ do. You’ll get 14 >>> lines in one of the classic sonnet rhyme patterns in iambic pentameter. >>> >>> But don’t worry it’s going to take over the world. Sam Altman says so. >>> >>> [image: 4992.jpg] >>> >>> Sam Altman’s make-or-break year: can the OpenAI CEO cash in his bet on >>> the future? >>> <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ng-interactive/2026/jan/25/sam-altman-openai> >>> theguardian.com >>> <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ng-interactive/2026/jan/25/sam-altman-openai> >>> >>> <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ng-interactive/2026/jan/25/sam-altman-openai> >>> >>> You know the real problem with the enshitification of the internet is >>> legal liability. If meta, OpenAI, Google, TikTok, x etc had the same legal >>> liabilities as publishers, they would stop producing and distributing crap >>> because otherwise they would be sued out of existence. >>> >>> Adrian >>> Sent from my iPhone >>> >>> On 25 Jan 2026, at 16:24, Harry Powell < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> I read this yesterday - >>> >>> >>> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/24/latest-chatgpt-model-uses-elon-musks-grokipedia-as-source-tests-reveal >>> >>> And this (and similar articles) a while back - >>> >>> https://grokipediawiki.com/analysis/plagiarism-scandal-investigation/ >>> >>> These don’t inspire me to use either. >>> >>> Harry >>> >>> On 25 Jan 2026, at 13:17, Hughes, Jon < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> hi, >>> there has been much talk of using AI to write code for us and of it >>> making the world better. people in this group have their own opinions >>> regarding alphafold, for example, but at a much simpler level, i just asked >>> chatGTP something about electrical power generation: his/her/their answer >>> finally included, ""Interpretation per joule: 4–12 €cents per kWh equals >>> 4–12 × 10⁻⁶ € per joule, since 1 kWh = 3.6 MJ". well, we all make mistakes, >>> right?! >>> cheers, >>> jon >>> >>> >>> ######################################################################## >>> >>> To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: >>> https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 >>> >>> This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CCP4BB, a >>> mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are >>> available at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/ >>> >>> >>> >>> ------------------------------ >>> >>> To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: >>> https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 >>> >>> >>> ------------------------------ >>> >>> To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: >>> https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 >>> >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: >> https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 >> > > ------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 > > > > ------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 > ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CCP4BB, a mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are available at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/
